chuck_35550

Oh Gran, it was the end of November and I needed the mold for Christmas soaps and couldn't get anywhere with her. The excuse was that they wouldn't have any seconds lumber until January and I hit the roof. You might as well get some made locally, its a real shame but I'm satisfied with the mold I got instead. HTH Steve

Start with all kinds of silicone molds and don't count any of them out for useage. I poured up some large hearts and then cut them in half and placed one part with the point up and the top heart part next to it on top and they look so cool. I've been thinking of making lots of multi-colored thin strings and then layering them throughout the soap. Week-end soaping is here! Steve

I filed a disputed claim against Silvermoon through Paypal and finally got my money back and a nice apology. If Paul is out of commission and he pulled the money out of your account, there's not much you can do but sit and wait IMHO. Good luck. Steve

High vanilla and cinnamon content fos are gonna soot IMHO. Just because you don't see evidence of combustion on the glass doesn't mean that it isn't coating everything in your house KWIM? It's all about aesthetics in most cases and a company might brag about no soot but it's just hype IMHO. Steve

Gee, that sounds about right for that configuration but you could try a 10 and see if that's a better fit. Personally, I don't encourage customers to pick their lit candles with liquid lava in them and move them around but you know how people are with lava. Steve

Candle Cocoon sells 12" long wicks I buy their cdn 18 wicks and they are super good and the customer service is top notch. Steve

That's some thick glass and notice the base thickness. You bet that's a hot candle. I'm sure it's been tested for safety but I wouldn't burn it myself. Burn it on a ceramic tile away from any drafts and keep small children, pets, people with long hair far away from it. A deep melt pool the size of a lake doesn't guarantee you can smell anything unless the system is working correctly IMHO. I could see that candle not throwing but the wick thinig is intriguing. Steve

I usually grab a bar after a week and by the time its used up the rest of the batch has cured up. Who wants to wait? I was the same way at Christmas when growing up. Beautiful soap by the way, nice work. Steve

Way to go on your first soaps! Perfect for St. Paddies' Day. Really Scented, you house must be ready to explode from having so many soap molds, lol. I can't talk, so I'll shut up. Steve

I just did some soaps that have Alabama A's imbedded in the middle (the middle of the soap is totally mp) and used a goat milk formula to pour over and put mp shavings on the top. No problems with sweat but my little babies on top of my King Cake cupcakes do sweat and I clean them off with a fine small paint brush. I like mp and cp together in the tub, its the best of both worlds IMHO. You can create almost anything you're imagination comes up with. Steve

Add 15% soy to the 6006 and pour at about 185 degrees into room temp jars and let cool uncovered. HTH Steve

How well does it fragrance the room(s)? Did you have to mess with it a lot to make it burn? It stunk up the joint real good and it didn't go out or have to play with the wax to make it burn right? That's all a customer generally cares about; they're used to candles that hang up a whole lot worse. I test a wick and rip it out and put in another one if it doesn't produce the results I want. No point in me waiting a wick out to the bitter end if it isn't doing the job from the start. I might try several types of wicks before the right one comes along; then I pour a new tester and burn it all the way to the end. You do this long enough you recongnize the nature of it almost from the very beginning but continue on with your current procedure if unsure. HTH Steve

Welcome to the Board. What method you use to melt your wax (double boiler, presto) ? Use your melter for only melting the wax and then pour the amount you need into another container and add color and fo and then pour (pour pot). Your maths may not be together but you will arrive at a method that will stay with you a long time. Bad habits are hard to break, so make sure you put together a routine that makes sense. Write down your weights and measures for each container and what wick and how much fragrance and then get all of your ingredients together and ready for a pouring session. I generally get my wicks, measure out fo, write down the order I pour the fos, have my temp probe programmed, while the wax is melting in the turkey fryer. Then you relax and enjoy the time spent and only curse when necessary. HTH Steve

Who created the Southern Scents of Arkansas label? That's a great label. Steve

I have the 2 poound log mold from Soap Making Resource and it is too wonderful. Wish I had several more of them. It's the perfect size for making a 6 or 7 bar batch and testing new ideas. I made a batch over the week-end and the soap wouldn't budge from the mold, so I placed it into the oven at 170 degrees for a couple of minutes and the log just floated out. I do not gel my soap as a rule but you can force the gel by wrapping the mold in a heating pad. Can't say enough about the construction, ease of disassembly and assembly; not to mention the customer service is outstanding. HTH Steve

I have a dozen of the Wilton heart shaped silicone cupcake liners and they're terrible. I got a dozen of the regular sized red with a shiny flat interior (you want this so your soap won't stick) and those came from a bake ware store and are heavy duty. The soap comes out like a dream and they are rigid enough for me to work with them to get bubbles out of the soap once its poured. Just make sure the interior is shiny IMHO. HTH Steve

I like em too and print up a fold over tag using two sided tape to keep it in place. Works like a dream. HTH Steve

You might want to post this in another section but I add 2 0z of 464 soy pp and pour at 180 degrees with 1.5 oz of fo and get only slight dimpling. I am pouring into heart shaped silicone molds and they look great. HTH Steve

Coco Loco is for making pina coladas or pouring over hot sheet cakes (yum). There is coconut water but I have used Silk coconut milk without vanilla flavoring or sugar added. I had some powdered coconut milk and didn't like it. When I added it to the mix it turned into a monster and did weird stuff. Soap it under 100 degrees. HTH Steve

I believe that's a gel candle with imbeds not candy. Lots of molds for that sort of thing and fairly common except ususally it's some kind of fake fruit imbed that looks like its been embalmed. Sorry if I offended anyone who makes gel candles on the board Happy Valentines Day in 8 days. Steve

I used to use those jars (kinda pricey) but the customers complained about the fitments being too hard to pull out of the jar so I went to a screw top lid and jar (salsa). Everyone seems happy with the look and I'm happy with the price. HTH Steve

Customers do what they want with your product, as is their right. Just make sure that you never give a customer a reason to believe that your product is intended for anything but a candle and discourage use of the jar as a warming device. I won't even make wickless upon request by explaining that there are different waxes for different applications. Container wax in a container is for burning only. Did you test your product in a warmer before offering it to someone to test? Unless CS stated that these jars were ok for warmers, then they have no horse in this race. JMO Steve

Buy a digital oven thermometer, which has a long silver cord attached to a probe. The probe will lay flat on the bottom of the presto and give you accurare readings. Plus you can set it for amount of time to stir fo and color. You can find them at wally world forabout $20.00 or so and they last forever . Hth Steve

I'm thinking rebatch?

Their Black Raspberry Vanilla is the all time best. IMHO Steve